At the Crescent Bay of Navy Headquarters Marineford.
Three hundred cadets formed square formations in their respective classes, with their luggage placed beside them.
At the very front, Zefa stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes scanning the crowd one by one.
"After four months of training, half a semester is almost over. We've taught you everything that needs to be taught.
As long as you haven't been slacking off and being sneaky, I'm sure you've all learned a great deal...
Now, an old man will take you on a mid - term exam. We'll go to the battlefield together and fight against the pirates!
Those who perform excellently will be awarded a higher rank when they graduate from the military academy.
It doesn't matter if you've performed poorly in normal times. As long as you accumulate enough military merits on the battlefield, it's not surprising to be awarded the rank of a field - grade officer when you graduate..."
After Zefa finished his speech, the cadets got excited. Even some cadets who had performed terribly usually were fantasizing about wearing the rank of a field - grade officer when they graduated.
Sephiroth scoffed at this.
With no talent and not enough effort, and still dreaming of making achievements on the battlefield. Aren't they afraid of dying too fast!
Moments later, the cadets boarded ten different warships in their classes. Besides them, one hundred and twenty sailors were also assigned to each warship.
The sails were hoisted, and the ten warships rode the waves and sailed out of the Crescent Bay in great numbers, heading towards their destination...
Twelve days passed in a flash. During the long - distance voyage on the Grand Line, one could always encounter all sorts of surprises. These include towering waves, ocean current whirlpools, soaring ocean currents, and huge Sea Kings that always appeared out of nowhere.
However, whenever a Sea King appeared, the cadets would always shout, "Extra meal! Extra meal!" There was at least one rear - admiral - level officer on each warship, and the leader was Admiral Zefa. The Sea Kings were basically like free meals...
On the warship of Class One in the fleet, in a somewhat dim cabin, Zefa stood in front of a long conference table. He reached out and pressed the shell of the Den Den Mushi on the table, and immediately a beam of light shone on the white projection screen.
A nautical chart and photos of relevant islands appeared in front of the cadets.
Zefa held a pointer and pointed at the projection, starting to explain the general situation to everyone.
"This time, we'll go to the Navy G8 Fortress for support. Near the waters under their jurisdiction, there's an Island called Hanabar Island.
It's the starting point of an underground nautical race that pirates hold every few years.
Nearly a hundred pirate groups will participate in this race, and many pirates with bounties over ten million berries will also take part.
Therefore, your mid - term exam task this time is to intercept and block them on their way to the destination.
Maynard, who had taken his seat at the long conference table, raised his hand and asked with a puzzled look on his face,
"Teacher Zefa, since we already know that those pirates set off from Hanabar, why don't we just attack there?"
Hearing this question, Zefa couldn't help but put his hand on his forehead and sighed softly.
"There are over four hundred thousand people in Hanabar. If we dispatch a large number of personnel to search there, we'll easily tip off the enemy.
What if we anger those desperadoes and they take the island's residents as hostages? We'll be in a dilemma.
Moreover, the pirates' underground sailing competition is not an honest one.
During the competition, there will be mutual killings and looting. Usually, they would have already weakened each other by the start of the competition. If we intercept and ambush them halfway, we can reap the benefits without effort."
Hearing this, everyone suddenly understood. If they sent a small number of elite troops to intercept the pirates at sea, it would indeed be more efficient than sending a large number of people to search and chase them in the town.
"According to the current intelligence, we need to pay special attention to some wanted criminals this time. Moore the Blood - Hand has a bounty of 94 million berries... Sosa the Double - Blade has a bounty of 81 million berries...
I hope you all can keep the relevant information in mind. Next, this isn't a game; it's a real battlefield."
In the evening, ten warships arrived at the entrance of Navy G8 Branch.
This is a huge circular fortress, surrounded by numerous cannons on the periphery. Unless one gets permission from inside the fortress to open the large gate and enter through the strait passage, the only other way is to break in from the air.
However, even if other ships manage to break in, they'll still be doomed to being sunk or captured, because there are also a large number of cannons inside the G8 Fortress.
It could be said that this fortress is fully armed, like a hedgehog both inside and out.
After the ten warships of the Navy Headquarters had their identities confirmed, the gate of the G8 Fortress slowly opened with a loud mechanical rumble. The fleet then passed through the strait entrance, sailed into the spacious inner - bay channel, and headed towards the dock.
On the deck of the warship, Gion looked at the cannons on the cliffs on both sides and said with a slight sigh,
"The firepower configuration of this fortress is incredibly exaggerated, isn't it?
Why are there so many cannons inside?"
Hearing this, Sephiroth looked up at the sky and murmured subconsciously,
"Maybe... it's because there are occasional visitors dropping in from the sky?"
"From the sky? ... That can't be possible, right?"
Gion looked skeptical. She looked up at the half - sky dyed red by the setting sun.
"This is the Grand Line!
Some things can't be explained by common sense..."
Sephiroth smiled but didn't explain much to her.
Ten thousand meters above the ground, there exists the Sky Island. To many people, this is just a groundless rumor, at most suitable for idle chatter after a meal, not something to be seriously discussed.
There are only two ways to reach the Sky Island.
The first way is near Jaya Island. With the help of the soaring ocean current, a ship can fly directly to the Sky Island.
The success rate of this method is either zero or one hundred. However, in actual operation, it's mostly zero, not a fifty-fifty probability.
The second way is when initially entering the Grand Line. One needs to choose a route among the seven where the altitude gradually rises. Starting from the top of the Western Sky, after overcoming various difficulties and perils, one can reach the Sky Island ten thousand meters above and enter the Sky Route.
However, even after traveling half of the Grand Line on the Sky Route, one still has to descend to the Blue Sea, go to the Sabaody Archipelago to coat the ship, and enter Fish - Man Island before being able to head to the second half of the Grand Line, the New World.
Sephiroth suddenly thought that at this point in time, it seemed that Enel hadn't become the god of Angel Island and Apayado Island yet, nor had he plundered all the Gin from Shandora. In fact, he might not even have eaten the Goro Goro no Mi...
There's potential here!
Sometime in the future, he should go with Tezzolo and empty all the Gin from Shandora!
Huh!?... He also had to go to Enel's hometown, the Sky Island of Birka, to see if he could find any trace of the Goro Goro no Mi!
The fleet sailed into the dock and only made a short stop. The cadets didn't disembark.
After having a brief chat with several officers of the G8 Fortress, Zefa saw that the warships had replenished their Tansui and food. Then he ordered the fleet to accompany the ten warships of the G8 Fortress and leave the fortress, heading at full speed to the destination of the underground sailing competition, Paldea.